Segezha president Shamolin hands reins to senior VP to chair board

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - The president of Segezha Group , Mikhail Shamolin will step down as president of the Russian forestry company to chair its board of directors and will be succeeded by senior vice president and head of the group's Siberia division Alexander Kreschenko.

In his new position, Shamolin will work on "issues concerning the holding's strategic development and increasing its shareholder value," Segezha, a division of investment group Sistema PJSFC , said in a press release.

"The new stage in Segezha Group's development requires strengthening operational management of the business. In the position of president, Alexander Kreschenko will focus on increasing production efficiency and achieving strong financial and economic results, expanding cooperation with the main consumers and key partners, and developing new product lines and services that meet the highest standards of Russian and foreign customers," Segezha said.

Segezha recalled that Shamolin headed the company for six years, during which time it "became one of the largest forestry holdings in the country, with a complete wood processing cycle, producing a wide line of high-margin products and the first public company in Russia's forestry sector."

Segezha's former board chairman, Sistema senior managing partner Ali Uzdenov will continue to serve on the company's board as the representative of Sistema who oversees the development of this portfolio asset.

Kreschenko, who is 51, joined Sistema in 2012 and held various management positions at group companies before joining Segezha in 2018. He handled the project to build the group's plywood mill in Galich and headed the mill for two years. Kreschenko graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a major in optical, electronic and laser devices, then earned an economics degree from the Moscow University of Consumer Cooperation, and completed Moscow State University's Higher School of Management and Innovation.

Segezha Group is a vertically integrated, international forestry group that combines the logging and wood processing assets of Sistema. Segezha raised 30 billion rubles in an IPO in April 2021 and its free float is 24.25%. Sistema owns a 62.2% stake in the company, and members of the board of directors and management board hold 4%. Segezha's charter capital is split into 15.69 billion common shares with par value of 0.10 rubles each.